Earlier today, in federal court in
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and James E. Dennehy, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the
“Carlos Watson orchestrated a years-long, audacious scheme to defraud investors and lenders to his company, Ozy Media, out of tens of millions of dollars,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “His incessant and deliberate lies demonstrated not only a brazen disregard for the rule of law, but also a contempt for the values of honesty and fairness that should underlie American entrepreneurship. On far too many occasions, Watson chose deceit over candor, grasping for the illusion of business success and personal acclaim at any cost. Today’s sentence should serve as a warning to those who would engage in fraud that justice will be swift and certain.”
“Carlos Watson masqueraded his former company’s composition and purported success to entice investors, but ultimately cost them millions when the curated façade collapsed,” stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Dennehy. “Watson abused his official capacity to ensnare subordinates to serve as lackies and perpetuate these fraudulent actions. May today’s sentencing deter any individual from implementing deceptive business practices to avoid a similar fate.”
According to court filings and as proven at trial, between 2018 and 2021, Watson and his co-conspirators orchestrated a scheme to defraud investors out of tens of millions of dollars through fraudulent misrepresentations and omissions about Ozy’s financial performance, including revenue, cash on hand and profit, ongoing business relationships with celebrities, acquisition prospects from high- profile technology and media corporations, contract negotiations and other corporate metrics. For example, Watson and his co-conspirators lied to prospective investors about who else might be investing in Ozy, the existence and size of acquisition offers received by Ozy, the existence and timing of financing rounds, and the existence and terms of Ozy’s business contracts — going so far as to direct Ozy employees to create fake contracts with forged signatures to provide in due diligence. On multiple occasions, when faced with questions from lenders or potential investors, Watson and his co-conspirators assumed the identities of and impersonated actual media company executives to cover up their prior fraudulent misrepresentations. Watson’s scheme caused actual investor losses in excess of $60 million and intended to deprive potential investors of hundreds of millions more on the basis of his and his co-conspirators’ lies and misrepresentations.
In July 2022, Mr. Peace was selected as the Chairperson of the White Collar Fraud subcommittee for the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC). As the leader of the subcommittee, Mr. Peace plays a key role in making recommendations to the AGAC to facilitate the prevention, investigation and prosecution of various financially motivated, non-violent crimes including securities fraud, wire fraud and identity theft.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Business and Securities Fraud Section. Assistant United States
The
Carlos Watson
Age: 55
Mountain View, California
Ozy Media, Inc.
Mountain View, California
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 23-CR-82 (EK)
